The board will consider final adoption of the ordinance at its Jan. 23 meeting. If approved, the rules would kick in 30 days later.

Discovery Bay adopted a set of park rules in April of 2011, but police cannot enforce them until an ordinance is in place. "That piece of the puzzle that was never put together," board Vice President Kevin Graves said. "It will help the sheriff's department enforce the rules that already exist. Right now, if we tell them something is going on, they tell us that they don't have any authority."

The rules would help curb commonly heard complaints about park behavior such as smoking, alcohol use, after-hours loitering and dogs off leash at the parks, said Fairin Perez, the district's parks and landscaping manager. Other issues the ordinance would stop include littering, excessive noise, vandalism, park use and the operation of motorized vehicles.

The penalty for violating the ordinance would be a $250 fine.

Town officials receive several complaints a month about bad behavior in the parks, though it varies depending on the site, Perez said.

"Some residents are telling us it can be uncomfortable," she said. "Safety is a priority of ours. We want people to have a comfort level when they go to a park and not be distracted while there."

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All other Discovery Bay parks are owned by the county and have similar rules to the proposed ordinance. When and if those parks are transferred to Discovery Bay, they would fall under the same rules.